Bhopal beauty parlour crackdown threatens livelihoods of thousands of women

The Story in Brief

The Bhopal Municipal Corporation's drive against commercial activity in residential areas has left thousands of women running home-based beauty parlours facing ruin. Sarita Shrivastava, president of the Bhopal Beauty Parlours Association, says nearly 5,000 women hold valid Gumashta licences, pay property and income tax, and have commercial electricity connections. Many, like Sudha Bhati, whose husband's pension is just Rs 12,000 a month, are sole breadwinners. They argue that shutting them down overnight after years of operating with official licences is unjust.

Women like Mamata Kadbe, who has run her parlour for 15 years, say they cannot afford to rent commercial space and have trained dozens of other women. They accuse the BMC of contradicting its own earlier approval by now declaring their operations illegal. The association questions why the government issued licences and collected taxes if home-based beauty parlours were always barred. The crackdown threatens to push thousands of families into financial distress.